ST. PETERSBURG - A judge gets a look at the bitterness of the fight
between Scientology and its critics.

After hours spent Monday viewing obscenity-laced videotapes of
Scientologists and antichurch protesters confronting one another on public
streets, a judge held off ruling on a permanent injunction against a
prominent church critic.

``I'm concerned that both sides seem to have a fetish with getting within
two feet of one another,'' Judge Thomas Penick said.

``I saw in video after video that you couldn't get a piece of paper
between these people ... the whole situation concerns me, quite frankly,''
the judge said in Pinellas Circuit Court.

At a nine-hour hearing, Penick was asked to make permanent an injunction
he imposed earlier this month against New Hampshire millionaire investment
banker Robert S. Minton.

Penick said he will announce his decision Thursday. In the meantime, he
will study case law, particularly a 1994 U.S. Supreme Court ruling
involving protesters outside an abortion clinic in Melbourne.

The videotaped confrontations between Scientologists, Minton and other
antichurch protesters show the situation to be both incendiary and
ongoing, the judge said.

``I see propensities here. This could just be the tip of the iceberg,''
the judge said.

The request for protection from Minton stems from an Oct. 31 incident
outside Fort Harrison Hotel in downtown Clearwater. There, Scientologists
from around the world come for spiritual counseling that critics claim is
simply a front for making money.

Minton was charged with misdemeanor battery after a police officer said he
saw him use a foam and cardboard placard to strike a church member who had
been videotaping a two-person protest at close range.

Acting on behalf of member Richard W. Howd Jr., church lawyers quickly
obtained a temporary injunction barring Minton from going near Howd or any
other Scientologist. The order also prevents Minton from going within 150
yards of 17 church properties, most in downtown Clearwater.

Minton's lawyers contend the incident was the latest attempt by church
members to provoke their critics into fighting so that injunctions can be
obtained to keep them from protesting.

In a series of videotapes, church members could be seen getting within
inches of Minton and other placard-carrying protesters. In some, church
members screamed insults, and in others they complained of being bumped or
stepped on and were asking that colleagues call police.

Minton and other protesters can be heard responding with vulgar sexual
taunts. On the witness stand Monday, Minton said that in every instance he
and his fellow protesters were echoing taunts made off-camera by church
members.

Howd, Minton said, fell dramatically to the street after being bumped with
the placard.

Police Officer Mark Beaudette, who arrested Minton, testified he would not
have been knocked down by such a blow.

David Sommer can be reached at dsommer@tampatrib.com or (727) 799-7413.

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